[Act 2] M-Mother Eternal Keehani Ukinix - A Mother's Scorn
Wil Ukinix
((Throne Room, Her Eternal Grace’s Outpost Supremacy – Orbit of Kirilow Colony))
Keehani was the youngest ever recorded Matriarch – and by extension, the youngest ever Mother Eternal (though that title was a relatively recent addition to nobility after the fall of the Terran Empire). She had become Empress of the Betazed Empire at the very ripe age of twenty, thanks to her assassination of her grandmother and then Empress Vaxa Ukinix in 2396. Many of the other Wings had challenged Keehani’s ascendancy in that first year, but the loyal Ninth Wing Noble Guard had crushed each and every challenge.
And she had proven to be a capable leader. Hard working, professional, and dedicated to the protection and expansion of the Empire. Her reforms of the foray of Betazed into the Delta Quadrant had been fruitful.
The colony planet Kirilow, named after her great grandmother, had a plentiful supply of all sorts of resources, and she had ensured there were many mines of different types set up on the surface. The Sixth Wing’s surveying of the nebula had found it rich in benamite, the mineral used to power quantum slipstream drives – and thanks to the spy wing of the Ninth Wing Noble Guard, Betazed had obtained the technology from the Klingon-Cardassian alliance and were able to produce their own QSD ships.
It would take decades to defeat the alliance. But she was determined to see that goal realised.
Despite the war, the Betazed Empire was growing and thriving, and it was because of Keehani’s established culture of punishment of any misstep, any mistake, any failure to follow established protocols that she felt, nay *knew*, was the reason for Betazed’s growing success. She was intolerant of mediocrity, and her people knew it. “Excel or die” had become her simple manifesto.
Those in the Delta Quadrant that failed her, or her manifesto, ended up in the prison colony “Idrustix”, one of the moons orbiting a large gas giant in the Kirilow system. It was named after Tri’lea Polgonz’s mother Idrustix Polgonz, the twentieth wing matriarch being the first political prisoner to “grace” the then new prison facility.
Keehani, with her back turned to the Terrans that had been summoned to her throne room, looked out across the planet’s surface below through the large window, and made one simple request.
M-Keehani: Explain to me how it is that a patrol ship was vulnerable to attack from the resistance.
M-Reade: Response
Keehani swiftly turned from the window, then clip-clopped her way across the dark, shiny, stonelike floor to quickly close the gap between her and the Terrans that were standing in a line before her throne. Her long robe trailed behind her, following her like a large rug being dragged across the floor.
Once in front of Reade, She quickly lifted her hand to her shoulder, before firmly and quickly smacking her Terran Security Specialist as hard as she could across his face, making sure to collect his nose in the process.
M-Keehani: ::Smacking M-Reade across the face and nose:: Then how is it that one of my patrol ships, the very one that happened to contain that *inbred* resistance member, and my bounty hunter, managed to be attacked!
Her squint of disapproval was emphasised further by her thick, black eye makeup.
M-Reade: Response
M-McLaren: Response
Keehani’s jaw tightened, as she angrily rolled her eyes before addressing her Medical/Science Specialist through gritted teeth while lifting a finger at her.
M-Keehani: You will *shut your mouth*, McLaren, or I will have it shut for you. Surgically! Do you understand!
M-McLaren: Response
M-Keehani: And by the Four, if any of you fail to refer to me as “Mother Eternal”, I will have you punished so that you will wish you were dead. My title is simple, even for Terrans. You will use it.
M-Reade/M-McLaren/M-Carter: Responses
M-Keehani: Consider yourselves fortunate I have not placed you all in the mines, like the many other Terrans on the surface. A Mother’s forgiveness is a blessing.
She gave a long sigh, before looking between the four pitiful Terrans.
An imperial patrol ship had crash-landed on Kirilow after being attacked by the resistance.
M-Keehani: This turn of events is disappointing, and more so was entirely avoidable had the appropriate security measures been in place. But then again, Terrans are known for their mistakes. That’s why ::loud single click of fingers:: I have to rely on a *Klingon* of all people.
The click of fingers signified to her personal attendants to let the blonde intelligence analyst into the room. She stood silently, eyeing the three Terrans before she gestured for Way’not to join them at the end of the line.
M-Keehani: Please tell me, Way’not, that you have some information regarding the resistance, and how it is that I have lost a patrol ship at the hands of incompetence by my Security Specialist.
M-Wong: Response
She gave a single nod, before her shoes echoed around the room as she took a few steps sideways to stand in front of the Terran mercenary. Her bounty hunter and assassin Daughter Rivi Ukinix had been on the patrol ship, and was now missing. That meant that John Carter was now her go to for ensuring people were “erased” when necessary.
M-Keehani: ::To M-Carter:: And you, Mercenary Carter. I fear I may have a traitor in our ranks, somewhere close to me. Would you take joy in finding that traitor?
M-Carter: Response
M-Keehani: If you were of my mind, what would you do to find this traitorous person… and what process will you follow once you do.
M-Carter: Response
Keehani locked a menacing stare with Carter, ensuring that he knew where the Terran’s place was in the Empire – at her beck and call. After a few seconds, she turned to Reade and McLaren.
M-Keehani: You two. ::Gesturing with chin to M-Reade and M-McLaren:: Tell me how you plan to redeem yourselves by assisting in the crushing of the resistance once and for all. I want ideas. Not failure. Consider this your last chance, ::slight smirk:: or I shall have you both *destroyed*.
It sickened her that McLaren and Reade were married, and it was part of her reason for her contempt for both of them. She couldn’t care less if they were genuinely in love, or if it was a marriage of convenience. How skilled professionals could find time to maintain any sort of meaningful monogamous relationship was beyond her. Not having anyone herself at her young age suited her, she didn’t care for a partner, just an occasional “plaything”.
M-Reade/M-McLaren: Response
Keehani turned, allowing her long flowing robe to follow her. She slowly walked to her throne. Four attendants rushed from the edge of the room to position her robe carefully and delicately, before she sat down. A single click of her fingers saw one of her attendants rush over to bring over a bowl of uttaberries. She held the bowl in her hand, picked up a single berry, and then chewed and swallowed it, savouring its’s flavour.
M-Keehani: Mmm. Very tasty. High in antioxidants too. ::Addressing Terrans and Way’not:: That patrol ship had important prisoners. They were members of the resistance. I want them found, and brought to me in this very throne room. Polgonz must be brought to me alive. Any others… alive or dead is optional. Do *not* fail me.
M-Reade/M-McLaren/M-Wong/M-Carter: Response
M-Keehani: And, if you can find it in your pretty, yet simple, non-psionic heads to manage it, safely retrieve my two inquisitors and my bounty hunter. They are all valuable assets to this empire – which means, ::leaning forward:: if you come back without them, Empire procedures dictate that you are worthless to me and there will be painful repercussions.
M-Reade/M-McLaren/M-Wong/M-Carter: Response
Tags/TBC!
Mother Eternal
Keehani Ukinix
Unified House of Betazed
Emperor of the Betazoid Empire, Matriarch of the Ninth Wing of Betazed
V239511WU0